Military Coup in Panama 1989

[ 1989 ]

In the presidential election of May 1989, Guillermo Endara Galimany and his two vice presidents won by a wide margin, but their supporters then suffered brutal physical assaults by Noriega's forces, an event widely reported by the international press. Noriega canceled the election results. This only exacerbated popular and international discontent with the dictatorship, but Noriega remained impervious to criticism. On September 1, 1989, he installed a classmate as president, but his desire to remain in power seemed to intensify in October, after he foiled another coup attempt.